Good Enough
by jacqs30
Summary: Derek finds out Penelope has a boyfriend  Kevin .  No one is more surprised by his reaction to this than he is.  This is my first Criminal Minds fic.  I look forward to hearing what everyone thinks!
1. Chapter 1

Summary – Derek finds out Penelope has a boyfriend. No one is more surprised by his reaction to this than he is.

Title:

Chapter 1

"Garcia has a boyfriend?" Derek's chocolate brown eyes were intense as he stared at Emily and J.J.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Where have you been Morgan? And you're a profiler?"

J.J. tried to keep from smiling as she saw the flicker of fire in Derek's eyes. Why was he so passionate about whether or not Penelope had a boyfriend? "She's been seeing him since just after she was shot, Derek."

"That long? She never mentioned it to me." Why wouldn't she have told him she had a man? They were tight, right?

J.J. smirked slightly. "Well the last time she told you about a guy, you told her that if something seems too good to be true, maybe it is or something along those lines."

Derek's glare became darker. "And I was right. That son of a bitch shot her, remember?"

Emily held up her hands. "What J.J. is trying to say is that a woman doesn't want to have their past mistakes thrown back at them. And Penelope probably figured you'd find some way to compare her relationship with Kevin to what happened with Battle and she didn't want to hear it."

"I wouldn't have done that." The fire drained out of his eyes as he realized that his baby girl might have avoided telling him about her relationship out of fear he wouldn't support her. "I want her to be happy." And he did, he told himself. So why was there a knot in the pit of his stomach?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Penelope tapped the mouse to end the call with J.J. Evidently Derek was having an odd reaction to finding out about her relationship with Kevin. She assumed Derek knew about her and Kevin but normally their flirting and work topics were the majority of their conversations so she hadn't deliberately said anything to him about it. A moment later his named appeared on her called ID. She clicked again to accept the call.

"Hey baby girl."

"Hey sugar. What can I do for you?" She didn't know if this call had anything to do with J.J.'s call moments before and she refused to make assumptions when it came to men in general and Derek Morgan in particular.

"I heard a rumor today."

"Aww now SSA Morgan, you know how reliable most rumors are."

He felt himself smiling at the flirtatious tone he always elicited from her. "This came from two very reliable sources though."

"Well do tell, mon cherie."

"I hear you've got a man."

Penelope had expected him to say something about Kevin but what she hadn't expected was the odd tone of his voice when he said it. Now she didn't profess to be a profiler but something wasn't quite right about his tone. The playful, flirty one was gone and it was replaced by….something else she couldn't put her finger on.

No, I refuse to assume he's jealous, she argued with the inner voice whispering to her. Shaking her head slightly, she cleared her mind and said, "Did you now? Well I guess not all rumors are lies. I thought you knew about Kevin?"

"Does it sound like I knew about Kevin?" Even he was taken aback by how abrupt that sounded. "Sorry, Penelope, that didn't come out quite right."

Penelope's mouth dropped open and she was momentarily speechless, a rare occasion for the normally chatty technical analyst. She wasn't sure how to react. "Now hot stuff, you're not worried that you're going to lose out of my hot and heavy flirting are you?"

Derek didn't know much at this point he had to admit to himself. He wasn't sure how to answer without letting her see even more vividly how upside down he felt. "No, of course not. Nothing like that. Just hope you know you can talk to me about anything."

Ok, two times speechless in less than 5 minutes. This had to be some sort of record. "I do know that. I didn't purposely not tell you about Kevin."

"Was that a double negative?" Derek felt his smile returning, if only slightly.

"I have no idea honestly. I suck at grammar."

Derek smiled again, more genuinely this time. "I'm going to leave that last sentence alone this time. Wanna grab a cup of coffee and you can tell me about your Prince Charming?"

"You buying?"

He shook his head, a deep chuckle rumbling from his chest. "You got it baby girl. I'll swing by and get you in a few if you're free now?"

"Sure, as long as you don't need my omniscience, the rest of the FBI can wait."

He tucked his phone back in its case and headed toward the elevator. If he had been willing to admit it, he would have to say he felt a little nervous about meeting up with Penelope and hearing about her relationship. But then he also would have to admit that he, in fact, was jealous. And he wasn't ready to go there.

Penelope removed her headset and caught herself checking her hair and makeup in the mirror she kept on her desk. What was she doing? This was just Derek – gorgeous, sexy and completely unavailable. The flirting between them had always helped lift her spirits on the darkest days in the BAU. As much as she loved helping chase down the bad guys, the downside was seeing the darkest depths of the human soul and what we are capable of doing to one another. Derek's smile, quick wit and flirtatious nature added some light to the darkness.

She turned to face the door just as it opened slowly. Derek peeked around the corner with his dark eyes shining. "Hey, sexy lady."

She smiled back at him. "Hey. I'm ready for my caffeine infusion."

Derek nodded. "Well I don't believe in keeping a woman waiting. After you." He held the door open and waited for her to walk through it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Penelope picked a table while Derek ordered their coffee. She picked the one furthest from the main walkway so they would have some peace and quiet or as much as you can in a coffee shop.

Derek walked over smiling at her as she settled in her chair. "Thanks my sweet."

"Of course. Now start spillin' baby girl."

She smiled and felt herself blushing. The odd thing was she wasn't sure why. Was it because of Kevin or telling Derek about Kevin? "Well you remember how after I got shot, Hotch had another technical analyst track down information in my system?"

Derek nodded, faintly remembering that small detail. He had been so concerned about keeping Penelope safe and making sure the killer didn't make good on his desire to kill her that nothing else mattered at the time.

"That was Kevin. Evidently he was uber impressed with my set up so he introduced himself to me. We had dinner and it kinda went from there."

"Is he good to you?" Derek watched her carefully. He had to know for sure.

"Yes." She looked at him and smiled.

"Do you love him?" His voice was quieter now.

Penelope shifted in her seat. "That's pretty personal."

He realized she would not meet his eyes. He wasn't sure how that made him feel. "I wasn't trying to pry Penelope."

She looked at him when he called her by her first name. He didn't do that very often. "Garcia", yes. "Baby girl", often. But very rarely "Penelope". "Oh I know. It's not that. I just, well, I don't know. He's sweet, he understands me, he's always there for me and he wants me. That's a nice feeling."

Derek nodded. "Of course it is. Does he make your heart skip a beat? Or butterflies flutter in your stomach when you see him?"

"I'm not a school girl Derek."

"There's nothing 'school girl' about your man making you feel that way."

"No man has ever made me feel that way." She looked down at her cup, the whipped cream capturing her scrutiny.

Derek slid his chair closer to hers and whispered, "No man ever, baby girl?"

Before Penelope could answer, Kevin walked through the door and made a beeline for their table. His expression was less than happy seeing Penelope so close to Derek Morgan. "There you are. Did you forget about me?"

Penelope almost spilled her coffee. "What?"

Kevin sighed heavily. "I told you earlier I would come by your office and meet you before we went to dinner."

Derek shifted away from Penelope, seeing her flustered and Kevin less than happy with her was not what he had intended. He just wanted to see if she was happy with this guy. And now he might have gotten her into an uncomfortable situation.

"I didn't forget. Derek called and asked if I wanted coffee so we came down here. Just lost track of time. We were headed back upstairs, right Derek?"

Derek nodded. "Yep, we were just getting ready to leave. Sorry man, wasn't trying to keep your girl away from you."

Kevin looked at him strangely. "I didn't figure you were."

It was Penelope's turn to make a strange face. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing, let's go grab dinner Pen."

"I want to know what you meant by that before we go anywhere." Penelope was fiercely stubborn when she knew what she wanted and she wasn't budging.

"He's a player Pen. He goes for a different kind of woman." Kevin wasn't sure why she was getting that look on her face. Everyone knew Derek Morgan went for drop dead gorgeous, model types.

"Different?" Penelope cocked her head to the side waiting for more explanation.

Derek was starting to get really uncomfortable. "I think I should go and let you guys talk. See you tomorrow baby girl?"

"Of course sugar. Thanks for the caffeine." Penelope turned her gaze back to Kevin.

As Derek got almost out of earshot he heard Kevin say, "You know, skinny and movie star gorgeous." He stopped dead in his tracks. Had that man just implied that Penelope wasn't his type? That he wouldn't consider going after her? Before he could react he heard the sound of a slap echo through the coffee shop. Penelope blew past him before he could say anything and he was left staring at the man who had just cut to the heart of any woman's insecurity by implying she wasn't good enough.

He looked coldly at the stunned man standing there. "You my man are the one who isn't good enough. For her."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Penelope found herself sitting in her cave of an office running searches for various scumbags that had been backing up for weeks while she and her BAU cohorts had been working on specific cases. This was part of her busy work as she called it which filled in the rare times when their expertise was not needed to catch a rapist or serial killer or child abductor.

She couldn't remember exactly how she had gotten back here. All she knew was she ran out of the coffee shop and as far away from Kevin and Derek as she could get. She ended up at home somewhere along the line and changed into her favorite sweats before leaving again because she couldn't stand hearing her phone ring off the hook any more.

She pushed those thoughts out of her head and concentrated on the petty crimes and escalation patterns of the parolees on her list. It wasn't often that she wanted to dive into the dark recesses of their worlds but tonight was one of those rare occasions. Anything but remembering what Kevin had said and what Derek had undoubtedly heard.

Derek had tried everything he could think of to find Penelope. He went to her apartment but there was no answer and he heard nothing from inside other than the phone ringing unanswered when he tried to call. He went to her favorite café but she wasn't there and according to the hostess she hadn't been there all night. Next to her favorite coffee shop by her apartment though he was sure she wouldn't want to be inside another place like that tonight. He had to be sure though.

The only movies playing at her favorite movie theater were romance or action. She hated action movies, though she would watch them with him occasionally. And he was sure she wouldn't pick a romance tonight.

He started to give up and give her space. Obviously she was hiding, not even answering her cell phone. Then one last idea popped in his mind. He smiled and got in his car and turned back toward and FBI building. She was hiding. And he was going to pull her out.

Penelope's eyes were growing heavy. She decided she better call it a night or risk sleeping at her desk and be found in the morning in her sweats. Not exactly the way she wanted her coworkers to see her. She gathered her purse and pulled out her keys while her computers went into sleep mode. As she turned to get up, the door opened and Derek leaned against the door frame. "Hey beautiful."

Her heart jumped then reality brought her crashing down. "You don't have to say that."

His smile faltered. "What do you mean?"

"I know you heard what Kevin said."

"So?"

"And now you're here to cheer me up and tell me how awesome I am so my feelings aren't hurt."

Derek sighed and walked over to where Penelope was now standing. She refused to look at him. He knew she was fighting tears and a bruised ego and it was killing him. He tilted her chin to make her look him in the eye. "I'm here because you matter to me. I'm here because the idea of you hurting makes me hurt. I'm here because I want to be."

The tears that were filling her eyes spilled over and ran down her cheeks. "Derek." He pulled her close, wrapped his arms tightly around her and kissed the top of her head.

"You ARE beautiful. I've always thought that. That has nothing to do with that jackass said. He doesn't know me. He doesn't know what I see when I look at you. If he had a clue he would have been jealous as hell when he walked in today."

Penelope pulled away and looked up at him. "What?"

Derek smiled at the incredulous look on her face. "You don't get it do you baby doll?"

"Evidently I don't get a lot of things. I think today has proven that." She smiled slightly, trying to find the humor in the situation.

"Can we get out of here? Go somewhere that isn't work to talk?"

"Sure. My apartment?"

"Lead the way mama."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Penelope drove to her apartment in a daze. Had Derek really said Kevin should have been jealous when he found them together? Her head was spinning from all of the emotional ups and downs of the last few hours. She willed herself to stay calm, to not make assumptions about what Derek would say now that her emotional outburst was over.

Derek followed Penelope to her apartment. He hoped he hadn't freaked her out. He hoped he hadn't made a mistake by saying too much when she was emotionally raw. He hadn't meant to say so much but seeing her cry, it was more than he could handle.

Traffic was light this late so they made it to Penelope's in a short time. Derek parked on the street in front of the building and jogged over to Penelope's car to meet her. She smiled tentatively at him as he held out his hand to help her from the car. "Thank you kind sir."

"My pleasure baby girl."

"I'm not going to shatter into a million pieces Derek. I have lived through a break-up before."

He smiled. "Haven't we all? This isn't about thinking you're going to fall apart. I know how strong you are Penelope. This is about saying things to you that I should have said a long time ago. Making sure you know the deal."

"I do like to know everything." She smiled playfully.

"Then let's start walking and talking."

The walk to the apartment wasn't the time or place for serious conversation; they both knew that. Instead they talked about pizza vs. Chinese for dinner because it was late and neither had eaten since lunch. Chinese was the winner after a serious rock, paper, scissors battle which Penelope won.

Derek placed the order while Penelope pulled bottles of water from her refrigerator. She wanted a beer almost as much as she wanted the Chinese food Derek just ordered but didn't want to dull her senses by adding alcohol. Whatever happened tonight would happen when they were both sober and full aware of everything. He sat on her couch and waited for her to settle on the other end.

"Now where were we?"

"You said you had stuff to say that I need to hear."

He smiled. That deep, all-the-way-to-his-soul smile. The one that makes intelligent women reduce themselves to a giggling mess. Penelope smiled back and waited. She wasn't going to say another word until he had his say.

He shifted uncomfortably as he tried to find the right words. "Ok it's like this. When J.J. and Emily told me about Kevin today I felt like I had been sucker punched. I chalked it up to feeling hurt that you hadn't confided in me."

"Why do you think it's more than that now?" Penelope chastised herself silently. So much for keeping your mouth shut, Garcie.

"Lots of reasons. First, it shouldn't be a big deal if you didn't tell me about Kevin. I don't tell you every time I go out with a girl and you've never had a fit over it. Second, I wanted to interrogate him like he was a suspect. I wanted to know everything about him but my info girl probably wasn't gonna dig up dirt on her own boyfriend so I was out of luck." He smiled at her, trying to ease his discomfort at being this forthcoming.

"Fair enough. I probably would have been a little suspicious of that inquiry." She smiled back, still not seeing why this was a sign of anything other than a friend worrying about another. "Is that all?"

He shook his head. "I'm not good at this. I'm too used to hiding feelings, baby girl."

She looked at him, made him hold her stare. "You don't have to hide anything from me Derek."

"And I don't want to. That's why I'm here. When I asked you if he made your heart skip a beat and butterflies flutter in your stomach, there was a reason for that." He slid closer to her and ran his fingers along her cheek. "Because that's what happens to me when I see you or hear your voice on the other end of my phone. Every single time."

Penelope's voice gave out. She was speechless. Again. What was it about this man that left her at a loss for words? She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Derek stared at her curiously while she looked at him, stunned.

"It's ok if you don't feel the same way. I just wanted you to know. You know, how it could be. How it should be." He moved back to his original spot on the couch and looked away from her.

"Derek?"

"Yea?" He still wouldn't look at her.

"I do."

"You do what?"

"Feel the same way."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"You do?" Derek looked at her almost incredulously. Not often was he wrong in reading someone, especially a woman but he had been sure Penelope had been about to tell him they were only friends.

"You sound surprised. Doubting your charm, Agent Morgan?" The playful tone was back.

"Never. But charm only goes so far when someone knows you as well as you know me." He smiled but there was a seriousness about his statement that showed more insight into his soul than anything he had said all night.

"We're an awfully lot alike Derek Morgan. Just in opposite ways."

He laughed. The deep laugh that always makes her heart beat double time. "Is that possible?"

She playfully slapped his leg. "Yes! Don't doubt the wisdom of Penelope Garcia!"

"Do tell oh wise one."

"Well, you know you can charm the, um, socks off just about any woman, no?"

He smiled at her. "Perhaps. Go on."

"And you also know you're pretty easy on the eyes."

"Ok get to the point instead of trying to make me blush." His eyes twinkled despite the apparent admonishment of the feisty blonde beside him.

"But when it comes to the real stuff, the serious stuff, you aren't quite so confident. Me on the other hand, I figure I have to work a bit harder to get noticed. Not because I'm ugly so don't even get your dander up. However I'm not Barbie and don't get looked at that way by a majority of guys. I rely more on the real me to get noticed."

"Are you saying I hide behind a pretty face?" His smile was infectious.

"Among other pretty things." She smiled even broader and winked just as the doorbell rang.

He stood up and pointed at her. "Saved, for now, by the bell. We will continue this conversation."

She walked to the kitchen for plates, silverware and napkins. When she got back to the couch Derek had pulled the containers out of the bag and was waiting for her. "As you were saying m'lady?"

"I'm saying we all have our insecurities even if they are about different aspects of ourselves. That's all."

"Finding someone special helps them ease though doesn't it?" He looked at her seriously, fire in his eyes. Not the angry fire she had seen when cases hit too close to home but passionate fire. The kind she never imagined would be directed to her.

"Yea it does." She felt herself moving closer to him.

"Penelope?" His hands were on either side of her face.

"Yes?"

"I love you."

Penelope felt her eyes filling with tears again. She had hesitated for a reason earlier when Derek had asked if she loved Kevin. It was because she knew there was only one person she could ever love. "I love you too."

The End.

Chapter 6, Page


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